Chapter 8: Reporters, Research and Rings
Hermione was in the middle of a very pleasant dream about dancing with the man of her dreams in the great hall at Hogwarts when she was rudely awakened by someone shaking her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes to see two obsidian eyes staring back at her with a look of annoyance. It took her almost a full minute to realize it was Snape that was waking her. "Morning Severuuuuuuus," she said yawning in the middle of his name.
He had waited a half hour for her to show up for their usual research session before coming to see if she was awake. He had found her door slightly ajar and was surprised to find her sprawled peacefully on top of her covers. He had to wait several minutes to be able to school his face into a look of annoyance after the sight of her in her very small and silky nightgown with her hair still all done up for the night before.
"I will have Winky bring you your breakfast and them perhaps you will be so kind as to grace me with your presence in the lab?" He asked making sure to infuse his typical sarcasm into the statement.
"You woke me from the loveliest of dreams," Hermione said with a sigh as she sat up in her bed. "I'm already starting to forget it, shame really." She got up and put on her dressing gown after realizing she was wearing one of the small silky numbers her mother had bought her. She looked at the clock and realized she was almost 45 minutes late. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting this morning, I must have slept through my alarm charm," she told him with a small smile. "Have you eaten already or do you want to join me for breakfast?" She asked as Winky appeared with a breakfast tray for her.
Although he knew he should leave her so she could get ready he found himself responding that he had not eaten, which although true was not what he had planned on saying. He was even further distracted when she motioned towards her table and the tray of food. He poured himself a strong cup of coffee from the pot that appeared shortly after Winky heard his answer. He had not had his normal 2 cups yet, perhaps that was the reason for his odd behavior.
They discussed their research while they ate and were almost finished with their morning meal when Ginny burst into the room chasing Crookshanks who looked to be carrying a pair of Ginny's knickers. Ginny was very surprised to see Snape sitting and eating breakfast in her friend's room, especially with Hermione just in her dressing gown. It was a good thing her mum or the boys wasn't there or she would have definitely misconstrued the situation. Hermione got up and retrieved the piece of underwear from her cat and handed it back to Ginny. "Sorry about Crooks, ever since mum bought me all that he's been trying to steal everything with lace on it. You are a very odd cat aren't you Shanks?" She said giving her cat a pat on the head and shrugging at her best girlfriend.
"Your cat has a lace fetish?" Snape asked sarcastically trying not to chuckle in front of the littlest Weasley.
"Yeah, the guy at the pet shop said it was something to do with his being part kneasel, don't ask me. All I know is that I have to keep my drawers and laundry basket firmly shut to keep him out." Hermione said with a small chuckle.
"Perhaps he is really a cross dresser in anamagus form?" Snape said sardonically earning a snort from his research partner. "Well I will let you get ready for the day. I'll be waiting in the lab," he said nodding to the two girls before heading back to his sanctuary.
As soon as he was out of the room Ginny rounded on her, "Do you realize how it looked walking in on you in your dressing gown sipping coffee in your room with Snape?"
Hermione laughed at her friend. "Oh calm down Gin, he came to wake me up after I was late to our scheduled research time. We ate breakfast and discussed our work; there was nothing improper about it."
"You're wearing next to nothing," Ginny reminded her and was satisfied to see Hermione blush.
"I know, I probably gave him a pretty good show before I put on my dressing gown as well," Hermione chuckled. "I was having the best dream when he woke me up. Do you remember the description I gave you during truth or dare about my perfect man?" She continued at Ginny's nod," I dreamt we were dancing in the great hall, he was holding me close and I could tell he loved me. It was such a nice dream, that's all I remember now, but there was more. I was still halfway in dreamland when I got out of bed."
Ginny nodded and shook her head at her friend. "You must have had a great night with Oliver to be so out of it that you didn't cover up with Snape in the room."
"Severus is my friend, I feel comfortable around him." Hermione shrugged. "I've almost stopped seeing him as the mean old potions master anymore and just as my research partner. Do you think that's crazy?"
"Not for you, but I'm still not comfortable calling him Severus, even after the wedding when he started calling me Ginny." She said with a smile. "So do you think that Oliver Wood is this mystery man you see in your dreams?"
"That would be nice, but I don't think it's him. There is a familiarity to my dream man it's like I both know him and yet he remains a mystery. Ah well, it gives me a reason to look forward to bedtime," Hermione said laughing as Ginny helped her take her hair down.
"Did you know that many people dream of their soul mate?" Ginny asked her. "It could be that you may have met him and now your soul is reaching out to him while you sleep, trying to steer you toward him. I never told anyone, but I've been dreaming of Harry since I was 7 years old. That's why I was so taken with him when I first saw him; it was like walking into a dream."
"Why didn't you ever tell anyone?" Hermione asked scandalized that Ginny would withhold that kind of information.
"It's so private and kind of weird. Before I knew I was a seer I thought it had just been a fluke thing but I've been reading up on it and it's happened to many women throughout time. There was a story of a lady that dreamt of the same man for over 80 years until on day she met him while vacationing in another country. They were married less than a year later." Ginny told her.
"Soul mates are very rare though," Hermione countered. "Mine could just be a dream that I manufactured from images of what I want a man to be."
"Well it doesn't matter right now anyway. You are happily dating a very cute guy so why bother with the dream unless you need to," Ginny said and they laughed as Hermione hurried to get dressed so she could get to work.
Hermione entered the lab to see Snape reading the Daily Prophet. He looked up to see her enter and handed her the paper, pointing out the society pages. "It seems your little outing last night has earned you a place in the society pages." He said with a sneer.
"What did Rita have to say?" She asked as she took the paper and read the article. It outlines the arranged marriage between Draco and Gabrielle and how in love the two looked. She even quoted Draco when he had told Gabrielle that he never wanted to be with anyone other than her. She had gone on to mention why the two were at the club and who the rest of the party consisted of. She went into detailed descriptions of what each of them was wearing. There were two paragraphs on her and Oliver and how sweet they looked together. She quoted Oliver word for word in his response to her question if they were there together. She had wrote, "Order of Merlin 2nd Class winner Hermione Granger has quickly become the keeper of Oliver Wood's heart."
"Keeper of his heart, ugh you'd think she could come up with better lines than that. My mother is going to read that and think there is something more serious going on," Hermione said. "But for Rita it was completely factual and not nearly as syrupy. I think she did a fairly decent job, what do you think?"
"I think that unless you have some sway over her that I am unaware of that you should be very worried that she is on your trail again," Snape told her not missing the devious sparkle in her eye when he mentioned her having something on the reporter. "So I take it that you are responsible for putting an end to her slanderous reports as well as that article in the Quibber giving a detailed account of what Potter went through after the tri-wizard tournament? Just how exactly did you pull that off?"
"That is for me and me alone to know. If I gave out that info, it could get back to her and I wouldn't have any ammunition against her." Hermione said with a smile, not realizing that she had just gone up several notches in Severus' regard.
Harry started practice the following Monday and they had all settled into a nice routine. Harry, Hermione and Severus woke earlier than everyone else and ate breakfast together. Harry would rush off to practice and Snape and Hermione would begin their day of research. Ron and Ginny both had taken 'jobs' at the ministry to help their dad so they could be more useful to the Order. They had to be there late morning and Harry was usually gone before they left. Neville spent his days in the newly discovered greenhouse at the back of the house. It had been under a disillusionment charm and in disrepair when Dobby found it at the end of the school year and he was restoring it with the help of his grandmother since his parents were finally able to go back to work. Draco and Gabrielle were also doing research for the order and spent most of their day in the library or flooing to Malfoy manor to research there. They would all get together after dinner to play games, talk or go out to see their friends. Tuesdays were considered 'date night' and reserved so that the couples could spend some alone time.
Hermione was running later for her date with Oliver when Gabrielle came in crying. Hermione sat the girl down and offered her a tissue before continuing with putting her hair up hoping the girl would let he know what the problem was. Gabrielle looked at her friend knowing she needed to tell someone her fear. "I don't think Draco wants to be with me anymore," she said quietly. "He's been very quiet and almost nervous around me lately. Last Tuesday he wanted to just stay in and keep researching instead of go out and now tonight he said there was something he had to do and he wouldn't be back until late. He's not here and the house elves said they hadn't seen him at the manor. I'm afraid he'd found someone else," She said and started crying again.
Hermione looked stunned at the little Veela, she had thought things were perfect between the two. She had no idea how to comfort her. "I'm sure there is a perfectly good reason behind all his odd behaviors. Draco is not the type to sneak around behind your back. I know he cares for you, maybe he's just scared that he cares for you too much." Hermione said hoping her words would calm the girl since she was already late and her hair wasn't going up correctly at all.
Gabrielle grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her down to sit in front of her so she could do her hair. "I'm sorry I'm making you late; let me fix your hair up for you. I know I'm probably blowing things out of proportion but I had to tell someone. You know how it is if you keep things to yourself and let them fester. When he gets back I'll just sit down and talk to him."
Hermione smiled as Gabrielle finished her hair. She turned and gave the little Veela a hug. "I'm sure things will turn out as they are supposed to; don't worry on it so much. We have much bigger things to worry about. If you are still worried about Draco after you talk to him, go to Severus and see if he knows anything."
Hermione walked into the restaurant only 10 minutes late. She was wearing one of the sundresses she had bought. It was in a pale mint green with spaghetti straps and came down to just above her knee. She wore light weight cream colored linen robes open over top since they were in the wizarding world she wanted to look the part and the robes held her wand since she was only in strappy cream colored sandals not her boots with the wand pocket.
"Hello beautiful," Oliver said kissing her cheek. "I was afraid you were going to stand me up." He offered her his arm as they were led to their table at the back of the restaurant.
"I got held up by Gabrielle," Hermione said with a soft smile at him. "How was practice, Xavier hadn't come back yet when I left."
"It was fine; I think the team is the best one I've played on. We have a good shot at the finals. They kept X after for press interviews and a photo shoot. I told them that I had a date with an amazing woman and they could take my photo some other time." He said playfully as he held her hand across the table.
"You are such a flirt," She mock scolded. "I happen to remember you telling me that they had already completed your press info and that the only photos left to take were the team shots."
They enjoyed a nice dinner and Oliver invited her over to his flat afterwards to watch a movie. He lived in the same building that the practice stadium was in so it had electricity and he was able to buy a TV and VCR. "How about James Bond? I have almost the full collection." He told her as she sat down on his overstuffed couch. His flat was small but nice. It had more contemporary furnishings and looked like he rarely spent any time there. The only part of the living room that made you think it was habited was the collection of tapes on a shelf next to the TV.
Oliver sat next to her and pulled her close to him so she was leaning her head against him. "Who is your favorite Bond?" he asked as he ran his fingers down her arm, making her shiver.
"Sean Connery is my favorite. My dad likes him too so I used to watch them with him growing up," she told him and smiled as he leaned in and kissed her. She had become a lot more comfortable with kissing. When she had been with Ron it was always awkward but with Oliver it was fun. She felt like a normal teenage girl when she was with him and was surprised to find herself willing to do nothing but snog for hours at a time. "I'm afraid if you keep kissing me we aren't going to see much of the movie."
"You said you grew up watching it so you should know how it goes anyway," he countered as he kissed her more. He shifted himself around so they were lying next to each other on the couch, Hermione in his arms. He was about to kiss her again when she giggled.
"Is that your wand in your pocket or are you just really happy to see me?" She said while giggling. She had always thought that was a stupid line and couldn't help herself when she felt his wand digging into her hip. He smirked at her and took his robe off leaving him in a pale blue polo shirt and tan slacks.
He leaned in so his mouth brushed her ear, "I am very happy to see you," he said huskily before capturing her lips again. The movie was halfway over before she noticed his hand sliding toward her breasts. She was torn between liking the feeling of his hands on her and not wanting to lead him on. She was in no way ready for any more of a physical relationship than some good snogging and had no illusions that she was in love with him. He pulled away from her lips as he reached his hand to her breast. "Is this ok?"
Hermione kissed him lightly first, "I don't want to rush things. I don't mind your hand as long as it stays outside my clothes and above my waist. I don't think I'll be ready for any more than that for a while." She told him before he smiled and leaned back down to kiss her some more, slowly massaging her through her dress.
She got up after the movie and started to put her robe back on when he asked her to stay. "Stay the night with me; I would love to wake up with you in my arms. Nothing untoward would happen I give you my word. I just don't want to be parted from you yet. We go on the road next week and I'll only see you at games. I want to spend as much time with you as I can." He told her kissing her ear and down her neck.
"We both have early day's tomorrow," She told him pushing him slightly away. "I also have very nosy friends who would notice I was missing." She smiled at him again, blew him a kiss and disapparated with a pop leaving behind one very frustrated Quidditch player.
Gabrielle waited up until midnight for Draco and finally gave up and went to bed. She tried to keep the bad thoughts away but couldn't stop from crying herself to sleep. She had finally realized that she was in love with him. Not even the teenage crush where you think you're in love either. She had fallen for him, something she swore she would never do. She went and broke her only rule and now she was suffering. Why was fate so cruel that as soon as she realized she loved him he started pulling away?
"What are you doing getting in so late young man?" Ginny said as he walked into the house. She and Harry had been worried about Gabrielle once Ginny saw her crying in her room.
Draco turned and saw their confused and concerned faces and sighed. Maybe they could help him straighten his feelings out. He went over and plopped down on the couch opposite them. "I wish I could go back to being a heartless little snake," he told the matter of factly. "This having a heart thing is for the birds."
"Why would you say that?" Harry asked as Ginny just looked concerned at their friend.
"If you don't have a heart you can't risk breaking it," he said quietly as Ginny's face lit up with realization.
"Why are you and Gabrielle fighting? Did something happen?" She asked.
Draco looked at her strangely. "We haven't been fighting, everything has been great. In fact everything has been wonderful."
"Then what happened to make you wish you had no heart?" Harry asked trying to break into the many layers of the Slytherin sitting across from him. Getting Slytherins to admit their feelings was like pulling teeth.
"I fell in love," Draco said simply and Ginny gasped. She didn't know how Draco could have met another girl with all the time he was spending with Gabrielle. She had thought things were really looking up for the two of them. How could he do that to her?
"What about Gabrielle? How did you meet someone new when you spend so much time with her?" Ginny asked not even bothering to keep the accusation out of her voice. She wouldn't let him hurt her friend.
Draco stared at her like she was crazy. "It's Gabrielle who I fell in love with." He told them, resulting in two very confused Gryffindors.
Harry, recovering first, asked the obvious question, "What's the problem then, you two are getting married."
"She doesn't believe in love, she told me so when we first met. We only decided to get married because there were not other options for me and neither one of us ever thought were would fall in love. How can I keep up the charade of an arranged marriage while the whole time my heart is breaking that she'll never love me in return?" Draco said as he buried his face in his hands.
Ginny smiled to herself, why would Gabrielle be so upset if she didn't feel something for Draco. There had to be more to the story than they were getting. "How do you know she hasn't fallen for you as well?" Ginny asked the practical and almost cliché response. "If you can fall in love then so can she right?"
"Why don't you think she feels the same, what have you done or said that gives you that perception?" Harry asked his blonde friend.
"Well I've started to call her love as a sort of pet name and I've told her how I never want to be with anyone else but her and she hasn't responded or reciprocated either of them. She responds when I kiss her, but I haven't tried anything other than a simple kiss." Draco told them.
"How does she react when you say those things and who usually pulls out of the kiss first?" Ginny asked knowing how to read a girls response. A woman's feelings are way more visible in their actions than their words.
"She always smiles at both comments and usually makes eye contact or moves closer to me. When I kiss her I'm the one to break it off first so I don't scare her away." Draco told her wondering where it was going.
"I don't think you have too much to worry about then," Ginny told him with a smile. "She responds to your touch and enjoys your compliments. Perhaps the real reason she doesn't reciprocate is that she doesn't believe you are sincere. You play a very convincing role most of the time, maybe she thinks all your affections are to convince everyone else with how happy the two of you are. After all, most of the school thinks you two shag like bunnies at least twice a week."
Draco paused to consider the statement; he could see where she would come up with that string of logic. "Maybe I should just talk to her then huh?" He asked smiling. "Thanks for listening guys."
Ginny smiled and excused herself for the night. Harry turned to Draco. "So what are you really going to do about it? You need a plan of attack... a way to prove your sincerity and your feelings."
"What do you think I can do? Why would she believe me anyway, I've never once in my life done anything to make someone trust in me." Draco said sadly.
"That's not true, you were prepared to give your life and fight your father to save Ginny. For that you earned not only my trust but the trust of her entire family. I trust you and I know Gin trusts you and I'm fairly certain that Gabrielle trusts you. Now you just have to do something so she knows that you are sincere." Harry told him.
"I know what I'd like to do but I'm afraid she'll think its stupid..." he said hanging his head. "Besides I want it to be perfect and there isn't anything good enough for her."
"What are you mumbling about? I'm sure we can make it perfect whatever it is that you want to be perfect." Harry told him seriously. "With enough money thrown at it anything can turn out perfect."
"I want to propose to her," Draco said softly with his head down. "I want to ask her to marry me, with a ring and everything. I'm just afraid she'll think it's stupid since she already agreed."
"I think it's a bloody great idea." Harry said honestly. "I'm going to wait until near the end of the year to ask Ginny but since you are already betrothed to her now would be as good a time as any to officially ask her."
"But there is not a ring on the continent that is good enough for her. I went to every shop I've ever known here in London as well as in Paris, Rome and Madrid. She's too special for just any old ring and I have to compete with that rock that Bill gave to Fleur. I'll never find it and I'm not even sure it exists." Draco said sadly.
"Draco, what I am about to reveal to you is beyond a secret. Only two other people even know of its existence and they have both been sworn to secrecy. I can find your perfect ring if you swear you won't reveal this." Harry said solemnly.
"Who else knows, I just want to know how secret this is before I commit." Draco said with a smirk thinking that it was something between the golden trio.
"Only Remus and Snape, not even Ron or Dumbledore," Harry said catching Malfoy's attention. After he gave his wand oath that he wouldn't reveal the secret Harry showed him to the vault and over to the jewelry case.
"I know there are a lot of rings here, but I doubt there is anything that has ever been created that is good enough for my Gabrielle," he said seriously then stopped in mid sentence when he saw the two rings in the velvet bag. "Whoa, is this the ring you're going to give to Ginny?" He asked holding out the emerald, ruby and diamond ring while Harry nodded yes. "This one is beautiful too, but it almost looks too simple for Gabrielle. You know who this ring would be perfect for is Hermione, it looks like her taste."
Harry just smiled at how spot on Draco was in his observations. After checking that the drawer was empty he turned back to Draco. "Alright, I want you to imagine the perfect ring for Gabrielle or at least imagine everything you want it to symbolize. Just keep her image in your mind and focus on an engagement ring for her." Harry stepped away and waited a few moments watching Draco's face as he thought of the girl he loved. "Alright, so here's the secret," he said pulling open the drawer and handing the newly formed velvet bag to his one time nemesis. "What do you think?"
Draco was confused but opened the bag anyway. Inside was an amazing ring. It had a large asscher cut (square cut) 3 carat diamond ring surrounded by other round and princess cut diamonds all in a large square pattern. It was intense yet beautiful and orderly. It was in short the perfect ring for Gabrielle. Draco looked to Harry with a smile, "That is the best kept secret you'll ever have. If it can make the perfect ring for her I can't image what else it's capable of. It could probably even make something that Weasley could propose with... assuming he can hang onto this girl that is."
They laughed and Harry was glad they had the perfect ring for Gabrielle. Every woman deserves a perfect wedding ring. Harry explained how it worked and went to show him the recycling capabilities of the drawer but before he did her found another bag in the drawer. What is this?" Harry asked as a simple yet elegant diamond ring with sapphires on each side fell out of the bag into his palm. The diamond was round and about 1 carat but it was flawless and looked like it was on fire it sparkled so much. The sapphires seemed to ground it to the platinum setting. The two boys looked at each other for a moment before laughing. "I guess Ron will get up the nerve some day huh? Now take that ring and go figure out how you are going to propose. I have to get to bed before I fall off my broom at practice tomorrow."
Draco finally fell asleep that night with a smile as he came up with a plan to win the woman he loved. Now all he needed was to borrow some of that Gryffindor bravery so he could follow through with it. He hoped she at least cared for him a little so they could be happy together.